Russellville High School senior Avery Watts became the most recent member of the Golden Tigers to sign to play sports at the next level during a celebration held Feb. 21.

Watts made her plans to play volleyball for the Mississippi University for Women Owls official during the signing ceremony. Along with being a standout volleyball player at RHS, Watts excels academically, and, among other pursuits at RHS, plays basketball and is a member of the track team. She has a cumulative weighted GPA of 5.0 and takes six AP courses. Watts is also the Bryant-Jordan award winner for RHS, the area and region and will be heading to Birmingham for the state banquet.

“It’s so special because I’ve been waiting for this day for so long,” Watts shared about the signing day. “I’ve been dreaming about this day and playing collegiate volleyball and I’m just so excited for it to finally come true.”

Watts has created many memories while playing at RHS, and she shared one of her favorites. “The friendships and memories that I’ve made are so special to me and I’ll never forget them. Mainly just playing with all of my friends and leaving it all out on the court.”

MUW, a coeducational institution, is a NCAA Division III member located in Columbus. “When I went down there to visit, everybody was just so nice and helpful and that just made me feel really at home,” Watts said. “Since it’s two hours away from home, it was important to me to make the campus feel like a home.”

First-year RHS volleyball head coach Will White had many complimentary things to say about Watts including the example she has set for others coming up through the program, her ability to move to the important outside hitter position during her senior season and her role as a leader on the team. “Avery is somebody that we will talk about for years,” White said. “Just the work ethic, her attitude and she’s a brilliant young lady with such an academic mind that is so smart. My only regret is that I didn’t have her for four years.”